SWEET DREAMS - STRANGER THINGS SEASON 1

twenty-four; gone, gone, alive

Jim had in fact known just the right place for their experiment. And so, they had found themselves inside the gym of the middle school with a kiddie pool they had set up in the centre with water and 1,500 pounds of salt — courtesy of the salt grit outside of the school stalked up for snow.

But beforehand, Jim had stopped off at the trailer whilst Mary rushed inside to quickly grab a picture of Charlie for Eleven to use as a tracker. It hadn't took long, Mary had chose the strip of pictures they had taken inside a photo booth on their third date at the bowling alley.

Mary had given Eleven the picture before she got inside the pool, letting her soak up Charlie's smiling face whom had also pulled many other faces in the photos. Eleven had smiled softly as she brushed her thumb over the picture, murmuring, "Happy." Under her breath and Mary had offered her a smile as she gently squeezed her shoulder.

They were all crowded around the pool as Eleven lay in it, Joyce holding onto her hand as the child floated on the top, a pair of goggles Joyce had wrapped duct tape around on her eyes to shield her from the light and to slip her into the darkness.

Mary sat beside her father, her legs crossed in a basket and her jacket long taken off and laying beside her knees. She fiddled with loose string nervously, "You alright, kiddo?" Jim asked, glancing down at his daughter and Mary nodded, offering a small smile.

"I just hope this works." She told him truthfully, although leaving out the part that she hoped Eleven would not only connect with Will, but hopefully Charlie too — and Barbara. She wanted them all to be alive.

Suddenly the lights began flickering and Mary looked up, her throat tightening, "Is she doing it?" She asked aloud, looking around the faces of the kids she assumed had saw her do it many times before them whom had only saw it once — and saw it fail.

Dustin smiled, "You bet." Mary looked down at the girl in the pool who's bottom lip was quivering, her body shaking and she frowned as she reached into the tub, placing her hand on Eleven's shoulder, despite the freezing cold water.

"Eleven, it's alright. We're all here with you. You're safe." She assured the girl and everyone watched as Eleven's body slackened a little bit, easing into some more relief and Mary pulled her hand out of the pool and her father offered her a sincere smile as she wiped the water onto her shorts.

Suddenly though, Eleven was whispering a name, "Barb, Barbara?" Nancy instantly perked up, her eyes widening and Mary's lips parted as she exhaled deeply.

But then Eleven was shaking and screaming, thrashing in the tub, "Is Barb okay? Is she okay?!" Nancy cried over the girls screeching as the lights all around the dull gym flickered on and off, sending an even more eery feeling over the already frightened group.

"Gone! Gone! Gone!" Eleven was chanting it as though she couldn't stop, her shrieks coming out terrified and Nancy covered her mouth with her hands in horror, worrying the girl's words meant that Barbara was dead.

Joyce was tying to comfort the child, holding onto her and whispering soothing words to her as everyone else worked into a panic, not knowing what to do with the girls terrified state. And it felt like forever, but after a few short moments Eleven finally calmed down at the hand of Joyce's comfort.

Mary hung her head, sighing in relief that the child had calmed down. But she still didn't know what she wanted to know the most.

So she got up onto her knees, leaning over the pool a little, pushing some hair behind her ear as she did so, "Eleven," She started gently and everyone looked at her, "Do you know if Charlie's alright? Can you uh, can you see him? Hear him? I... Do you know if he's alive?" She asked the child desperately, feeling her eyes begin to pool with tears.

Eleven was silent, just floating in the water, her lips moving but no words coming out, "Eleven please, I need to know if he's alive — please, please just try." Mary was sobbing, the tears leaking from her eyes and Jim hung his head, shutting his eyes at the sound of his daughters breaking voice.

The kids exchanged glances, not used to seeing god damn Mary Hopper cry, nor beg someone, let alone their friend.

          Mary pursed her lips, tipping her head back to stop the tears but she only cried further, "Please, just give me something..." She pleaded, but still Eleven was silent and Mary sighed, reaching up to wipe her tears away as she sniffled.

"Cold," Eleven suddenly whispered and Mary sat up, instantly scooting closer to the pool, "His, his body... cold." Mary's mouth opened in a gasp, her heart sinking to her stomach and she brought her hands up to cover her mouth as her shoulders began to shake.

She shook her head in disbelief as everyone frowned deeply, knowing that it could only mean one thing — Charlie Williams was dead.

Jim tried reaching for his daughter but she quickly got to her feet, desperately wiping at the tears on her face, "No, she's wrong! This is all total bullshit!" She exclaimed, waving her hand in her face, "Charlie's not dead, she doesn't know shit!" Her words came out as more of a growl as her throat tightened, barley even getting the words out.

Mike's face was a mixture of a frown and a glare as he looked up at her, "She knows more than you, you've only just got involved in this, what, ten minutes ago?" He argued with her, defending Eleven and Lucas punched him on the arm, trying to tell him that it wasn't a good time to get on the wrong side of Mary Hopper — especially since she had just been told that the boy she loved was dead.

Mary's grief stricken face suddenly turned cold and if it weren't for the smushed mascara, wet tears and bloodshot eyes you would have never known she was crying. She pointed at Mike, "You keep talking, Wheeler and I'll sure as hell make sure that when your time for high school comes you'll never walk the halls in peace."

"Hey! Back off!" Nancy yelled, getting to her feet, the same time Jim nimbly said "Mary, that's enough." But it wasn't enough. Charlie was dead — Mary hadn't found him, she had failed him.

Mary stood on the spot for a moment, her eyes filled with fury and her jaw tense before she turned her back and began walking towards the doors, "Fuck this shit." She said, her voice stone cold as if everything had suddenly just been taken from her within seconds and Jim quickly got to his feet.

"Mare! Mary!" He called after her but she was already out the door and everyone sat in a silence, having just witnessed what could have potentially been Mary Hopper's final breakdown. Losing someone else she loved.

———

My poor baby Mary just keeps suffering, I gotta stop.